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"Most corrupt" in Congress listed

By Chuck Neubauer Los Angeles Times

Posted:
09/25/2005 01:00:00 AM MDT

Updated:
09/25/2005 02:46:25 AM MDT

Washington - A watchdog group, naming what it calls "the 13 most corrupt members of Congress," is calling for ethics investigations of some of the most prominent political leaders on Capitol Hill in a report to be released Monday.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) claims in its report that the 13 members violated a variety of congressional ethics rules. Among them are Senate Majority leader Bill Frist and House Majority Whip Roy Blunt.

Cunningham is one of two House members whose residences have been searched as part of separate federal criminal investigations. The other, Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., also is named on CREW's list.

Three people on the list - Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.; Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio; and Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., are cited for their dealings with one-time super- lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is the subject of congressional and federal grand jury investigations. Abramoff was indicted last month on fraud charges from a Florida business deal.

"They all violated ethics rules," Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said of the 13 members of Congress.

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She criticized both parties for failing to police ethics.

Representatives for some of the 13 dismissed the report as "pure politics."

The report is called "Beyond DeLay: The 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" and is based, CREW said, on news articles and other documents. The report was made available to the Los Angeles Times by the watchdog group.

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